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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. court — of a king
  3. court — for sport
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. fall — to drop
  6. race — the arms race
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. saw — the tool
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. swing — to play on
  11. saw — the tool
  12. race — humankind
  13. ground — the earth
  14. ground — crushed
  15. sharp — clever
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. fall — the season
  18. swing — in golf
  19. swing — music
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. race — a contest
  23. ground — a position
  24. court — of law

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com